Finding His Home
by MaverickThePony
Summary: When the Black Stallion makes his appearance in Ponyville, he brings with him a new name and a fresh start. But, as peace talks with the griffon tribes continue, can he keep his worst nightmare from coming true? Sequel to The Price of Harmony.
1. Chapter 1

STOP! You are about to read the sequel to The Price of Harmony By MaverickthePony if you prefer to avoid confusion while reading than the other story can be found on my profile page.

Chapter 1: The Return

A knock on the door awoke Twilight. It had been a week since she and her friends had returned from their trip to Forshan. Twilight figured it was just another visitor to try and ask her where she had gone. She and her friends had agreed not say anything about it to keep ponies from learning about the horrors that existed outside of their borders. "Go away! I'm not talking about the trip!"

"Well you ponies must move pretty damn fast if you've been on another trip since we parted ways a week ago." came a voice from outside. Twilight sprinted down the stairs and ended up falling down them but that didn't stop her. She sprinted towards the door and threw it open with her magic she threw her arms around the figure standing outside and he returned the embrace. It was Talon the Special Forces pony that saved Equestria a week ago when he took captive the leader of Forshan, a country bent on destroying Equestria. Since then his friend Whiskey had taken over the government and was currently in peace talks with Equestria. A week ago before parting ways he had promised on visiting Ponyville and had hinted on wanting to actually live somewhere instead of roaming a desert. Twilight broke the hug.

"What took you?" she asked him

"Well I just got back from my trip."

"Where did you go?" she asked him.

"I was looking for this." Talon said holding up a piece of paper.

"What is it?" said Twilight taking the paper and reading it.

"Twilight, that's my name."

Twilight's eyes came off the paper and she stared at him.

"Nails." she said to him. He nodded. "So I assume that you're going to be going by Nails then?"

"Yep, if that's what my mother wanted my name to be then that's going to be my name."

"Well then we'll have to get used to calling you Nails!" responded Twilight.

"Yep, oh and Twilight, I need your help."

What is it?... Nails." said Twilight

Nails chuckled, "I need to know where everypony else lives."

"How about you just stay here tonight and we'll go out tomorrow. They'll be sure to notice you. Besides Spike has been pestering me and I figure that having you here could freak him out a little if you know who he is before he knows you."

"Spike, a baby dragon, purple scales with green spines, arrowhead tail, magically hatched." Said Nails confidently. He noticed the shocked look on Twilight's face. "Her majesty Celestia told me."

"Oh. Well then that's perfect! The couch is over there I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Thank you Twilight." with that they each retired to their respective beds that night.

Spike woke up the next morning. He sleepily made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He prepared a breakfast of eggs and grasses for Twilight and one for him. He turned to the fridge to get a drink and turned back to see both of the plates missing. He put the drink on the counter and turned back to the fridge to close it. When he turned around his drink was gone too. Now something was wrong. Twilight knew better than to take his drink. He decided that she was just pulling a prank on him. He went out into the library and didn't see her. He felt something sharp prod him in the back. He figured Twilight was hitting him with her horn. He turned around to see a stallion staring at him.

"What's up?" asked Nails

"TWILIGHT!" yelled Spike

"Oh I see you met my friend." said Twilight coming downstairs.

"But I felt something sharp touch me and he doesn't have a horn!" exclaimed Spike

"Griffon claw." said Nails holding up his claw. At this point Spike blacked out. "Is he going to be ok?" asked Nails

"He'll be fine." said Twilight. "I'll bet you're interested in seeing the rest of our friends." Twilight said as she opened the door.

"Well then let's go. Oh and I didn't eat any of that breakfast so I'm kind of hungry." said Nails.

The two ponies walked along the road towards Sugarcube Corner. Nails had never had anything sweet so Twilight figured that would be the perfect place to start. Some ponies were already coming up to meet him, well the ones that didn't see his claw first. These ponies didn't like anything different as Twilight remembered when Zecora first came around the town. However before they could make it to Sugarcube Corner Applejack spotted him while carting some apples into town with her brother Big Macintosh. She immediately broke out into a run that would have spilled her apples had she not already unhitched.

Unfortunately for Nails, he never saw her coming.

"Oof!" said Nails as Applejack tackled him from the side.

"Talon! It's so good to see ya!" she exclaimed.

"c-c-can't... breathe!" he managed to get out as Applejack's embrace choked him.

Applejack immediately loosened her grip and allowed Nails to get back up. "And by the way Applejack, my names not Talon anymore. From here on out I'm going to be going as Nails."

"Nails huh? Well that will take some gettin used to." said Applejack.

"Well I hope you can get used to It." said Nails. He picked up Applejack's Stetson which had fallen off when she tackled him. He gave it to her. "We're off to... Umm, where was that again Twilight?"

"Sugarcube Corner. We're going to see Pinkie Pie."

"That and I'm kinda hungry." said Nails

"Oh well here take a few apples free of charge!" said Applejack handing him three apples.

"Thanks," he said taking a bite out of one. His eyes instantly lit up. He quickly took another bite out of one and finished off the other two in record time.

"Don't tell me you ain't ever had an apple before?" said Applejack

"Nope, for most of my life I've lived off of grasses I found, and if I got lucky, the occasional egg." responded Nails

"Well then I'm interested to see how you'll respond to what they have at Sugarcube Corner." said Twilight

The three ponies entered Sugarcube Corner where they saw Fluttershy waiting at the counter. She turned and saw them coming.

"Talon!" Fluttershy exclaimed in her own quiet way. She began trotting towards him and he closed his eyes bracing himself for the impact he expected. What he didn't expect was for her to stop directly in front of him and wait for him to acknowledge her.

"Uhhh hey Fluttershy. It's nice to see you." said Nails

Fluttershy put her hooves around him in a short and gentle hug. Nails was surprised at her gentleness.

"Thank you Fluttershy for not going crazy and tackling me."

"Oh well you're welcome." responded Fluttershy.

"I just wonder if Pinkie Pie will do the same." said Nails

No such luck

"TALON!" a voice screamed. The next thing he knew he was on the ground with a Pink pony standing directly above him. It felt weird though he hadn't felt the impact at all and...

"What the hell?" Nails exclaimed as the pain hit him two seconds later.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so glad that you're here! I wondered when you were going to visit since the last time we saw you, you promised that you would visit. And I even baked a cake for you whenever you finally did visit and-"

Nails looked over at Twilight for advice.

"Just nod when she stops for breath." was all he heard before the assault on his ears restarted.

"And then I kept telling gummy that he looked silly but he wouldn't listen so I had to take his top hat off of him and gave him one that went better with his lollipop shirt." at this point she stopped talking and Nails took Twilight's advice and nodded. Pinkie Pie seemed to get it and got off of him.

"Well Pinkie Pie it's good to see you tw-"

He was cut off as Pinkie Pie gasped then ran off.

He looked over to Twilight for confirmation on what just happened.

"Watch out later on." was all she told him.

"I'm guessing it's a good idea I left my gun at your house then."

"Yep." she said and they were off.

They got to Carousel Boutique at around noon. "I'm hungry." said Nails as he entered the shop.

"Well, if you're lucky this won't take long."

"What do you mean if I'm lucky?" asked Nails

"Talon, Darling how very nice to see you!" said Rarity who came over and gave him a short hug.

"Nice to see you two Rarity." Nails responded, "But I've changed my name to Nails."

"Oh, is that your real name?" Nails nodded "Well than we need to make you a nice suit in celebration." Rarity said. Nails began to worry.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she grabbed him with a hoof. He tried to escape but no cigar; this unicorn had incredible strength for only walking on three legs at the moment.

After what seemed like hours the six departed Rarity's shop. As they left Nails stopped dead in his tracks. "Uh-oh."

"What is it Nails?" asked Rarity.

"I don't think I got a chance to tell Pinkie Pie my new name before she ran off." responded Nails.

"Oh, well darling you need to go see Rainbow Dash, I'll see to it that she knows." and with that Rarity trotted off towards Sugarcube Corner.

"Ok, now Nails, we just need to find Rainbow Dash and then we can show you around town." said Applejack.

"That'd be nice." responded Nails as they walked.

Rainbow Dash was busy with one of her weather teams. They couldn't do a simple task like shaping the clouds. They had gotten the amount wrong and she was most likely going to see this setback coming out of her paycheck. Ever since returning from Forshan she had been having problems managing her weather team. She also had a much shorter temper and when she got angry, they would know about it. She was already having a bad day and she didn't think anything could turn that around. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw a sandy brown coat and mane. The owner of this coat was a stallion. "Talon?" she whispered to herself. It couldn't be him; he would have stayed in Canterlot with the Princesses and would have wanted to oversee Iron Foot's execution. She couldn't be certain until...

His right front leg came into view and Rainbow Dash shot off like a bullet.

"You know, I like this town. It's small and the people are really... Oof!" shouted Nails as he was tackled to the ground. He looked up to see a cyan mare pinning him down.

"Talon! It's you!" said Rainbow Dash

"Well, yes and no. It is me, but my name is not Talon anymore. My name is Nails."

Rainbow Dash let him up at this point before giving him a hug. Out of all of her friends, she had known him the best. He had kidnapped her and told her his secrets. She had kept them and in the end he saved all of Equestria. Right after they got back into the country, He had left for Canterlot and then on a trip to no one knows where. He must have just arrived in town.

"When did you get here?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Last night. I found Twilight and stayed with her for the night and scared the crap out of that dragon assistant of hers this morning."

The seven friends made their way into the library. They agreed that they were about to talk about things that might have scared the townspeople. Twilight sent Spike on an errand before shutting the door.

"So what are they going to do about Iron Foot?" asked Twilight

"Don't know. Don't care, the last thing me and Celestia said about the matter was my word that I didn't care how they did it if they had to toss his sorry ass off a cliff. I think that's what she'll do." he said taking out a cigar and lighting it.

"You're going to have to stop that if you're going to live here." said Applejack pointing at the cigar.

"I know I know, it's just that I am quitting for now. Maybe permanently depending on how lucky I am."

"What do you mean depending on your luck?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Nails ignored the question and said, "I'm just glad that I can finally live somewhere."

8 times. 8 times. While writing this chapter I accidentally wrote Talon instead of Nails seven times. Looks like Twilight was right. Nails will take some getting used to. One time I didn't catch the mistake until a few days later.


	2. Nails gets an Acquiantance

Chapter 2: Nails gets an Acquaintance

"Wow, this is a really nice town!" exclaimed Nails as they walked through the streets, "but there is one thing that I need to ask. Don't you ponies have a metal smith around here?"

"No, most metal stuff has to be shipped here." replied Applejack.

"Well I'm pretty good at metal-working. In fact, that knife you tried to stab me with Twilight was made by yours truly."

Twilight blushed at this. She had remembered when they had tried to sneak into the military and assassinate Nails, who had been Talon at the time, while he slept. Of course, Nails had led them to do that as a trap and they had fallen for it. "I, eh, I remember that." said Twilight uttering a fake sounding laugh.

"It's perfectly fine that you tried to kill me. In fact, I remember saying that I didn't think any of you had the guts to do it. And then you tried to throw the knife at me."

Twilight blushed again, Nails sure was bringing up a lot of strange things to talk about. "Could we please change the subject?" asked Twilight wanting to avoid further embarrassment.

"Ok, we can get back to me talking about my abilities. That sounded pretty arrogant didn't it?" asked Nails

"Yup." replied Rainbow Dash.

"Well, anyway, a lot of my old equipment I made myself. Besides that knife, I also made my gun belt, my stew pot and frying pans, my canteen that I lost in a card game, Oh! And my lighter, I am really proud of my lighter!" he said as they reached sugarcube corner.

"Speaking of your gun belt, you left all of your weapons at the library, right?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, why?" said Nails as he opened the door.

"SURPRISE!" yelled Pinkie Pie as he walked inside.

"Ah!" Nails reached for his gun only to feel nothing. "ohhhhhh, that's why you asked if I left them at the library." Nails said looking back at Twilight.

The room was heavily decorated with balloons and streamers spread throughout. In the middle of the room was a banner that said "Welcome to Ponyville" the word Talon was crossed out several times and was illegible to anyone that didn't already know what they were reading. It had been replaced with the word Nails. "Thanks." Nails said to Rarity seeing how she had told Pinkie Pie

The party went on throughout the night. At one point a certain red stallion that identified himself as Big Macintosh came up to him and starting talking to him. Nails, who was tired and losing focus, perked up as soon as he heard Big Macintosh say, "and then a few bad apples fell from the tree."

Nails tilted his head indicating another room in the house. The two ponies went into that room where Nails locked the door.

"You know who I really am." he said turning to Big Macintosh.

"Eeeeyup." replied Big Macintosh.

"There are only three groups that know about special forces: special forces themselves, royal guard, and Militia captains. Since you aren't special forces and you're not a royal guard."

"That would make me captain of the Ponyville militia. That's the reason that I'm usually so secluded and quiet. I just have to be honest with ponies and that makes me feel uncomfortable about keeping secrets."

"So you're telling me to relieve some of the pressure since I know Equestria's state in the world. Well, you don't have to worry about that as soon as Luna gets back from the Griffon lands they will execute Iron Foot."

"Good, that colt is a problem that this world needs solved."

"I agree, now let's get back to the party. Ponies are probably wondering where we went."

Big Macintosh nodded and the two re-entered the room. It seemed that nopony had missed them. Applejack noticed them coming into the room together and that the two talked all through the night. It made her happy to see her brother making friends for himself. He had always been so secluded and he really didn't associate himself with her own friends. He just treated his life like the only thing he could do was work on the apple farm. As the party winded down to a close Nails and Big Macintosh stayed afterwards talking to each other about his old battles and what it was like to live in a town.

They were finally forced to leave when Pinkie Pie kicked them out. Even she had a limit apparently. Deciding that it was getting late anyway the two parted ways. Suddenly, Nails turned back around.

"Hey Big Macintosh!" Big Mac turned around acknowledging Nails, "Do you have a hammer I could buy?"

"Eeeyup, I'd give it to you for free if you really wanted it." replied Big Macintosh

"I wouldn't feel right just taking it, and about money, let's just say I'm rolling in 'bounty'."

Big Macintosh chuckled, "It's a little late now so come by tomorrow and then we'll talk."

"Got it!" said Nails as he headed towards the library. As soon as he got that hammer he would start on his own home and workshop. He had announced at the party that he was going to be opening his own workshop in the town and that he could help anypony with anything from metal to wood.

As soon as he reached the couch in the library he collapsed onto and instantly fell asleep. He had a big day tomorrow.

The next day Nails woke up and left before Twilight woke up. He made his way to Sweet Apple Acres to see that Big Macintosh and Applejack were already working. Both Big Macintosh and Applejack saw him and both approached him.

"Well, what can I do ya for Talo-uh I mean Nails!" said Applejack eyeing Big Macintosh carefully to see if he had noticed.

"Relax Applejack, he already knows who I really am." said Nails

"What! How? Did you tell him last night at the party? You're just throwing that secret to the wind and letting it scatter aren't ya?" she said sounding a little angry.

"I already knew." said Big Macintosh calming his sister.

"How?"

"You never told her?" said Nails.

"Told me what?"

"I didn't think she needed tah know."

"Know what?"

"It's kind of important, and besides, she knows about me."

"WILL YOU TWO QUIT KEEPIN ME OUTTA THE LOOP AND TELL ME ALREADY!" yelled Applejack.

"Applejack, your brother is the captain of the Ponyville Regiment in the Equestrian Homefront Militia." said Nails.

"What?" said Applejack.

"It's the army that Equestria would use to fight a guerilla war should special forces ever fail. That's why I was asked to go to Canterlot for that 'special education'. They were just training me."

"And you agreed to this? You left me to work on the farm to try and become a hero!"

"Actually, he was drafted." said Nails.

"What's drafted?" asked Applejack.

"Well, when a pony gets drafted, he or she doesn't have a choice whether or not they want to do it. They get selected to do it. Your brother got chosen because he was able to keep a level head in stressful situations. And he wasn't supposed to tell anypony outside of other soldiers, and now I guess you count as a soldier." said Nails.

"Oh, well then, I guess I'm sorry fer gettin mad. It's just I get back from a foreign country to return to what I think will be a normal life and mah brother turns out to be the leader of a militia here in Ponyville. Speakin of which, who else is in the militia?" asked Applejack.

"He is not authorized to say. Only the individual soldiers can reveal themselves. And I just remembered why I came here in the first place. Big Macintosh, do you still have that hammer I asked about?"

"Eeeyup, just lemme go and get it." he said walking off towards a shed.

"So I guess that's why you two got together so well at the party last night. So why do you need the hammer?" asked Applejack.

"I'm gonna build myself a house then start on the workshop."

"Wow, that sounds like you got a lot of work to do today."

"Yeah, I expect to be able to put a roof over my head by tomorrow then I'll start on the shop." replied Nails as Big Macintosh returned with the hammer in his mouth. Nails pulled out a few bits and paid Big Macintosh, before leaving and heading towards an outer part of the town he had picked out on his way to Sweet Apple Acres. It was far enough away that the loud volume of his smith work wouldn't be heard, but close enough to where he was a few minutes walk from the center of town. It was time for him to get to work.

I am really proud of myself I only used Talon once this time. So anyway please review because right now I really need advice.


	3. Broken Pieces

Chapter 3: Broken Pieces

Nails looked out at the location. It was perfect for his needs. Since he was a blacksmith he would be doing a lot of loud work. The location he had chosen was on top of a cliff overlooking one of the lakes of Ponyville. He had chosen this spot also because he had noticed that there was a large deposit of hematite in the cliff. Thanks to his military training he had already planned on how to extract the hematite. He would first have to get a rope and pulley system made for him so he could lower himself down. He wouldn't do the mining directly below his house since that would have ruined the structural integrity of the cliff and as a result his home. He would do the mining where most of the ore was. On a sharper descent that led directly into the lake so that if any of his systems failed he could have a safe landing in the water. He had also decided that since the Everfree forest was once a city, they would have a large stockpile of charcoal there. He decided that once he had finished his home, he would go and search for some of the fuel before extracting the ore so that he could get to work as soon as he finished the shop which he planned on building after his home was finished.

There was one more reason why he had chosen this location. Not a reason related to his work or the view. He had chosen this location because it was outside of the Ponyville city limits. He had decided that no matter what, he couldn't live in Ponyville. This way, he could avoid the distraction that this would bring. He was still close enough that ponies would probably refer to him as the Ponyville blacksmith. But he technically wasn't a citizen of Ponyville.

Nails finally turned his attention as the sound of carts came towards him. He turned to see the lumber he had bought was almost there. He picked up the money Celestia had given him and walked out to meet them.

"Are you Nails?" asked the stallion at the front.

"Yep, that's me. How much do I owe you?"

"A delivery this size, plus distance comes to about 325 bits."

"I'll give you 350 if you leave me one of those carts."

"Well these are starting to get old and we were going to replace them anyway so why not." said the stallion as he unhitched from his cart. "Take this one right here." he said indicating the cart he had just unhitched from.

"Alright, let me help you get this wood unloaded." Nails began unloading the wood. He had been to the hardware store earlier to pick up some nails. When they had finished unloading the wood Nails paid the stallion and the group began its trek back to where ever they had come from. Nails turned around to face the plot for his land. He picked up the shovel he had gotten from the store and started to dig the first hole.

He had built the building's frame when he felt something hit him in the side of his head. He picked up a small rubber ball and turned in the direction it came from to see three small fillies running towards him. The three stopped short in front of him.

"Well hello there kids, is this your ball?" said Nails holding the ball up in his claw. He instantly decided that this had been the wrong decision. The three fillies screamed at the sight of his claw before running around in random directions. Nails face-hoofed with his left hoof before he heard another voice.

"What the hay is going on here?" said Rainbow Dash who was flying down from the cloud she had been on. "There had better be something really big going on to have woken me up from my nap!" she snapped.

"Rainbow Dash is here! She'll save us!" shouted the orange pegasus filly.

"Save you from what?" Rainbow asked looking around. There wasn't anything odd.

"from that strange ol pony right there." said the yellow filly with a bow in her hair.

"Oh, you mean Nails?" said Rainbow Dash looking back at him. "He's a friend of mine. Don't worry, he's cool!" said Rainbow Dash as she landed right next to Nails.

"He is? He doesn't look that friendly." said the white unicorn filly.

"Heh, Rainbow do you think you could try and introduce me?" asked Nails.

"No problem. Girls, this is Nails. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

The three fillies looked at each other and nodded. Nails figured that they would finally calm down. He was wrong.

"WE ARE THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" shouted all three in unison almost deafening Nails.

"We are on a quest!"

"To get our cutie marks!"

"Ya! And umm, what they said!"

"Cutie marks?"

The three fillies and Rainbow Dash stared at him like he was an idiot. In truth, Nails had no idea what they were talking about.

"What do you mean? Don't you know what a cutie mark is?" asked the orange pegasus.

"Um, I'm not really from Equestria. I lived in a different country for a long time."

"Um, I think you three should go see get some lunch. It's about lunch time don't you think?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Ok, Rainbow Dash!" said the orange pegasus, "Let's go guys!" and with that the three sped off towards town.

As soon as they were out of earshot Rainbow Dash spoke up, "So you don't know what a cutie mark is?"

"No, I don't, could you please tell me why they are so important to those three fillies?"

"Well, it's a mark that a pony gets on their flank when they realize their special talent. Like mine." said Rainbow Dash indicating the cloud and lightning bolt on her flank. "Mine shows how fast I am and my love for racing."

"Huh, is it just ponies that have these cutie marks?"

"Well, from what I know we are the only species. Why?"

"I think I know why I don't have one of those things. It's because I'm part griffon, the griffon part of me keeps me from being completely pony and thus I can't have a cutie mark."

"Well, maybe you just haven't found your special talent."

"I could name a bunch of things that I am really good at like killing, hunting, metal working, medicine." Nails noticed a confused loom on Rainbow's face.

"You can do medicine?" she asked.

"Ya, I'm special forces, not invincible. You have to learn how to take care of your own wounds out there on the battlefield."

"Well, maybe those aren't your special talents."

"Rainbow, about these cutie marks, if a pony has a cutie mark for something is that the only thing that they can be really good at?"

"Well, not really, they can be good at other things but they would be exceptional at that one talent and a few things that come with it."

"Well, I think that means that I will never have a cutie mark."

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at it this way; you said that they would be good at things related to their talent. My talent just so happens to be fighting, yet I'm able to pick up on things that most ponies may not be able to. That may be because I'm part griffon."

"I guess you're right." Rainbow said as she turned to look at the outline of a building. "So this is where you're going to live?"

"Yep, it's got iron ore on the cliff's face along with a safety net should something fail while I extract it, and it is away from the town."

"A little too far away, it's out of the city limits."

"How did you guess?"

"I didn't guess, I knew. As the weather captain for Ponyvile there are several important bits of information that I need to know and the geography of Ponyville is one of them. The city limits ends about 200 yards from here. Why don't you want to live within the city limits?"

"I couldn't tell you. It's just that I don't really uh, like living in a community. I've always been a loner and so I feel more comfortable that way."

"Ok well, I guess that I'm getting a little hungry, I'm going to head over to Sweet Apple Acres." Nails ears perked up, "Do you want to go with me? You look like you've been working all day."

"Uh, I guess I could spare a little time, but I need to try and finish by tomorrow." said Nails as the two set off for Sweet Apple Acres.

"I'll make sure to try and pull a few strings and get you some good working weather for this afternoon and tomorrow."

"Thanks, I could really use it seeing as I still don't have a roof over my head."

"You're not going to sleep there tonight, are you?" asked Rainbow.

"Well ya, I am. I'm used to sleeping outdoors so this would be easy. Especially since the weather's controlled around here. I'm used to sleeping through really hot nights."

"Well, I guess if you wanted to I can't stop you. So do you have any plans on what to do first as Ponyville's blacksmith?"

"Not really, I'll probably have to wait until I get a job from somepony."

"Well that may take a while seeing as there aren't many people around Ponyville that use equipment that you could fix."

"Ya well. Hey I never learned the names of those three fillies."

"Huh, oh ya them. The Yellow earth pony was Applebloom, she's Applejack's sister, the white unicorn was Sweetie Bell, she's Rarity's sister."

"What about that orange pegasus?"

"She was Scootaloo; she's kind of an orphan. That's why she really likes me. She wishes that she had parents like me so she put me in a role model position that I don't think I'm doing a very good job of filling."

"What happened to your parents?" asked Nails, Rainbow Dash stopped dead in her tracks.

"What do you mean?"

"Rainbow, I've seen ponies go insane before. All it takes is one traumatic event, one bad day, and they are at an all-time low. Sometimes, when a pony reaches the bottom, they look for the best way out. The first thing they would look for is someone who experienced the same problem. Scootaloo chose you as a role model because there is something in common with you two and I don't think that being pegasi is the answer to that question. Besides, I can relate to you."

"Oh ya! How! How can you go through the same pain I did!"

"My parents died before I ever knew them."

Rainbow Dash had a stunned look on her face, "Really?"

"I know the story, but I don't think you would want to hear it. I'm interested in what happened to yours."

Rainbow Dash stood silent for a moment, "It was a day like any other. My dad and mom were the captain and co-captain of the Cloudsdale weather station, I was there that day. A storm cloud got left on the static charger too long and it started to reach a critical state. My parents didn't know that and so when they went to move it, it went critical killing my parents and injuring everyone else in the room. Except for me. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't die that day, or at least get hurt."

Nails looked away, he knew exactly why Rainbow Dash had been spared, but now wasn't the time to tell her.

"What happened to your parents?"

Nails was caught off-guard by the question. "Umm, it's a story that I don't like to think about."

"I've seen the way you react when you hear about griffons. It had something to do with them didn't it?"

"Yes."

Rainbow Dash didn't press the grim matter any further. "Hey, Sweet Apple Acres is just around this bend, what do ya say to a race?"

Nails thought for a moment, this would be a good way to get their minds off of the grim matter which they had just discussed. "You're on." he replied. The two didn't stop to take positions as they just began to sprint. The two turned around the bend where Rainbow Dash was stopped cold as she crashed into Applejack. Nails looked back and saw this so he stopped and started walking towards the two ponies.

"What in tarnation Rainbow? What was that for?"

"Oh uh, me and Nails were racing to your farm and I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"I would have won by now two." said Nails as he arrived at the two ponies.

"Why didn't you keep running then if you could have beaten me?"

"It's an old war habit of mine. Unless my objective was to kill that person, I never shot a pony that was down. I would always give them a fighting chance. Come to think of it, a few days before I met you Rainbow I let a pony live because he didn't die after I shot him once. I never did learn how he turned out."

"Well, for a pony with the reputation you had that seemed mighty merciful of you." said Applejack.

"Mercy is when you don't give somepony what they deserve. None of the ponies I let live deserved to die. Respect is what I showed, if they had the fighting spirit to try and fight me while wounded, I respected that, so I would point them in the right direction and give them a second chance. A few of them started becoming my contacts in various towns. Brandy was one example." Applejack just stared at Nails. Rainbow Dash had never known Brandy, but Applejack remembered that mare's kindness towards them. "She had been an assassin for Iron Foot for the longest of time. When I found her she tried to fight me even though I had shot her, but she couldn't. So being respectful of such an attitude, I pointed her towards a medic and low and behold she starts feeding me information. When I tell her about you six, she sends me a message saying that she would look out for you and tell me if anything came up which it did."

Applejack just stared at him. A low rumbling sound, however, broke the silence.

"Uh, yeah. Hey AJ? We're kind of hungry. Do you think you could spare us a few apples?" asked Rainbow Dash who's stomach had made the sound.

"Sure thing sugarcube, I think Granny Smith just finished baking an apple pie that I know she would be willing to share with ya. I got to go do a few things in town but I should be back soon."

"Ok thanks." said Nails who began to walk towards the farm. "Hey Rainbow Dash, are you coming?"

"Uh, ya just one second." with that Rainbow Dash took off after Applejack.

Nails shrugged and started walking towards the farm. As soon as he was done here he would have to get back to work.


	4. An Unexpected Expansion

Chapter 4: An Unexpected Expansion

Nails got back to his land at about 2:00. He had gotten into a conversation with Big Macintosh about the different weather patterns for the seasons and had been asking questions about how they decided what they would make the weather each day. Nails sighed realizing that if he wanted to meet his own deadline he would have to double-time it. He picked up his hammer and immediately went to work giving the building, which already had supports, walls.

He had finished the first wall and was beginning to work on the second when he looked towards the sky. He saw the sun getting close to the horizon. He extended his claw out and measured the distance from the sun to the horizon. One hands width. That meant he had about one hour until sun-down. He quickly abandoned the wall he was working on and quickly set up to work on the wall facing the cliff. The wind was supposed to come from that direction tonight so he needed to finish that wall to provide some protection against the elements. He had finally erected a barrier large enough to deflect the wind when the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Sighing, Nails walked over to where had hid his gun and began working on one of the bullets. He pulled the bullet out of the casing and poured it into a fire pit which he then covered in wood. Then, taking another bullet he once again removed the bullet from the casing. This time, however, he placed some tape over the hole that had once been occupied by the bullet and keeping the gun pointed up he pulled back the hammer and placed the cylinder directly next to the fire pit.

"Time to wake up the neighbors." with that he pulled the trigger causing the gunpowder to explode. The explosion lit some of the gunpowder he had poured into the fire pit which in turn ignited the wood. Now that he had a light source he could get back to work. He looked back at the town and noticed a shape making its way towards him. When the shape came into the light of his fire, he realized that it was Twilight.

"What was that explosion all about Nails?"

"I used my gun to light a fire."

"Well, that wasn't very smart, you could have just gotten me to come and make you a light."

"Ya well, I wanted to use up as little time as possible in making a fire and this was something that I've done before."

"Well, next time try not to do it so loud." Twilight looked at the shape that was slowly, by the careful work of Nails, becoming a house. "How much work do you have left?"

"I just have to finish my room then I can get started on my workshop. If I need anything else in the future I can just expand my house."

"Have you thought about plumbing?"

"Yes, and I'm just going to get my water from the lake down there. I know a few purification techniques that I can use to clean out any bacteria."

"Well, you seemed to know everything except how to make a fire quietly!"

"Ok, well you can stay for a while if you want but I have to get back to work." said Nails as he went over to his hammer and picked up a board.

"So, how was your second day in Ponyville?"

"It was fine. I talked with Rainbow and Big Macintosh, ate some apple pie, which I can't believe I have managed to live my life before apples. I also met the, what were they called again? Something like the cutie ark crusaders?"

"The cutie mark crusaders? They always seem to find the strangest ways to get into trouble. I once caught them trying to rearrange the library when really all they managed to do was scatter all the books on the floor."

"They seemed alright. They would still be scared of me though if Rainbow Dash hadn't saved my a-", Twilight looked at Nails with a look that could kill, "My hindquarters." said Nails, "So if I'm going to live here I have to change everything about myself?"

"Basically yes, you do. You can start by not trying to get on everypony's bad side!"

"Was it really that loud?"

"It woke up Spike! He never wakes up!"

"That loud huh? Guess I need to get a few matches for next time."

"You need to take a little break from building for the night. You must have been working almost all day. I suggest you stop for the night and get an early start the next morning. If you get tired while doing this kind of work, you could really hurt yourself."

"I'm afraid that I can't do that Twilight. I'm already behind schedule and if I'm going to finish by tomorrow morning I need to work for a few more hours tonight."

"Ugh!" Twilight said as she departed towards the library. Nails didn't pay much attention to this; however, as he was already back to work. He worked for a few more hours that night finishing the wall facing the cliff and another wall before finally deciding that he had done enough for that night.

The next morning Nails woke up just as the sun peeked over the horizon. It didn't take long for him to find a few edible grasses to eat on. After he was through eating he got to work on his house. He finished putting up the last wall in record time and then realized the challenge that still lay before him. He still had to put the roof on. He carefully climbed up the wall to get into a position to nail the first board onto the roof. As soon as he swung his hammer a voice distracted him causing him to miss the nail and hit himself in the hoof.

"SON OF A B-!" he stopped short noticing Twilight tapping her hoof expectantly, "You love to torture me don't you?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. I got a letter from Celestia today about the yearly Grand Galloping Gala."

"The Grand what?" asked Nails.

"The Grand Galloping Gala. It's a yearly ball during which all the most important figures in Equestria come together and socialize. She re-invited me and my friends but there was another ticket in the letter and a message that said it belonged to you."

"Oh no, I can see where this is going and the answer is no."

"I thought you might say that and so did the princess. She told me to tell you that you should think of it as a royal summons."

"Twilight, will you please allow me to finish my earlier statement now?"

"Nope."

"Ugh!" Nails said, "Well I can't refuse a summons from her majesty so I guess that means I have to go don't it?"

"I actually think that you might enjoy being in Canterlot."

"Last time I was there I got on the bad side of a few of the guards. But, there is something I could do there."

"What's that?"

"See about putting the names of my team members in the book of Stallions." Twilight looked at him confused, "The book of Stallions is a record of all the deaths of the members of the Black Stallions. Being that my team split up and we were the last six no one could have recorded our deaths. Over time I got word of all of their deaths and whenever I did I wrote them into a little journal that I kept with me at all times. As the last of the Black Stallion, it is my duty to write their names in that book."

"That's so responsible of you."

"I know, now if you would excuse me, the feeling is returning to my hoof and I have a house to finish."

"No problem." with that Twilight left Nails to finish his home.

Nails worked through the entire day to get the roof finished. When he did finish it he got to work on his furniture. First he built a desk and a cabinet. He would use these to hold his important documents. Then he built a table out of hickory wood. A personal choice since he had found that the wood could be smoothed out really easily. Then he realized he would need a bed. So he started walking towards town with the cart he had purchased attached to him. He found a place that sold beds and paid the price when he found one that he really liked. He was on his way back home when he saw Fluttershy walking backwards with a group of ducks following her. Curious he unhitched and walked over towards her. When she saw him she said hi and continued to walk.

"Uhh, Fluttershy, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking my duck friends across town into another pond. The one they used to be in has gotten too warm for them so I'm taking them to a larger one where it would be cooler."

"Uh huh, and you do this because?"

"It's my job here in Ponyville to look after all of the animals and make sure that they all get a nice home. If you ever wanted a pet you could come see me."

"Ok well, I finished my house and now I'm taking the bed I just bought to it."

"Really? That's nice I hope you like Ponyville."

"Ok, um bye."

"Bye Nails." said Fluttershy as she continued to march backwards.

"That was... Interesting." said Nails as he hitched himself back up to his cart and headed to his home.

It was afternoon when he had finally finished getting his home organized. So far it had three rooms: a bedroom, a study, and a storage room. Not connected to the house was a tool shed where he would store any tools he got until he had places for them in his workshop. His kitchen was also outside built around his fire pit. He was fixing a dinner soup containing several grasses and mushrooms when Applejack walked up to the land.

"Well, you got yourself one humdinger of a home!" she exclaimed seeing the house for the first time.

"Thank you." said Nails filling a bowl with the soup. Earlier he had carved out a spoon from a log he found. "What brings you here?"

"I'll let the mayor say that." she said as the mayor walked up to the land.

"Well, I must say that this is a very nice house Mr. Nails."

"Thanks. Could you explain to me why you're here though." said Nails beginning to eat the soup.

"By decree of the royal Princess Celestia, the land described as Ponyville is to be extended so to contain the lake of Whitetail Woods!"

Nails did a spit take with the soup.

"Not quite the reaction I was hopin fer." said Applejack.

"That's, uhh, great. What a nice surprise." said Nails obviously disturbed by the news. "How did you get her to grant an extension so quickly?"

"She said that she would have done anything for you. Although she didn't explain why." At least there is some good news thought Nails, "I would like to be the first to greet Nails as the official Ponyville Blacksmith!" said the mayor but before Nails could say anything in response she had left.

"What's wrong Nails? Aren't you happy?" Applejack asked.

"Uh, ya. It's just that I didn't expect something like this to happen. I guess I'm just surprised by it is all."

"Well it's good to see that you like It." said Applejack as she turned to leave.

Nails looked down at the ground.

"Strike one."


	5. Hoofston, We Have a Problem

Chapter 5: Hoofston We Have a Problem

"Twilight why is it that when you gave me that ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala, you neglected to tell me that it was only a week away?"

"Oops." was her response, "I guess I didn't think that you would accept."

"Well now I only have a few days to get ready for it. Now explain to me why I'm going with you to Rarity's."

"Because I left my dress with her after last year. I want you to see just what Rarity had designed for you."

"But, Twilight I-"

"Oh look we're here!" said Twilight as they arrived at Carousel Boutique.

"Twilight Darling! Good to see you! And I see you brought Nails with you!"

"Ya about that Rarity, I-" Nails was cut off again as Twilight started talking again.

"Ya, I'm so sorry that I told you Nails was going this late. I hope you had enough time to get something ready for him."

"Well I-"

"Of course I had time to get something ready for him."

"Well, I don't really-"

"Darling come in here I need to see if I got the measurements right." Nails had no choice as he was pushed into the Boutique. It was only a few moments later when he found himself being forced into a tuxedo vest and shirt.

"Can I just say something?"

"I think I got the hem wrong, and it could use a hat. Hold on dear." Rarity walked into the next room and Nails tried to leave but found Twilight blocking his path.

"Oh no you don't. How would Rarity react if she thought you didn't like her designs?"

"It's not that it's just that-"

"I found this amazing tie that I think would look simply marvelous with that suit Nails." Rarity said as she walked back into the room carrying several items with magic.

"Rarity you don't have to do this."

"Of course I do! I will not allow my friend to look like a brute at one of the most important events of the year."

"No Rarity!"

Tears started to show in Rarity's eyes. It was obvious to Nails that he had just hurt her feelings.

"Rarity, I'm sorry it's just that I don't need a new formal suit because I already have what I'm going to wear."

The tears stopped forming and Rarity looked at Nails with a confused look. "How could you possibly already have something to wear? Did you use a different designer!" said Rarity suddenly becoming threatening.

"No no no, I already have something to wear because when ponies graduated from Special Forces training we were given formal attire to wear in the presence of the princesses if we were ever called to have a meeting with them."

Rarity looked at him. "Where is it then?"

"It's at the underground special forces headquarters in Canterlot. I would have to go and get it before we went to the Gala."

"Well why didn't you just say so?"

"I wasn't given a chance. Between you and Twilight I had enough room to get interrupted and that was it."

"Well in that case I guess that you won't need this hat."

"Ha, I don't think so." Rarity left the room leaving Twilight alone with Nails.

"Uh, I guess I'm sorry." said Twilight.

"It's ok you didn't know." Nails replied.

"No, not that. Ever since you arrived in town I've been trying to get you to become just like one of us. I've tried to get you to conform to my standards when you were taught another set of standards. I guess my problem is that I still haven't forgiven you for keeping who you were a secret when we were in Forshan."

"That's ok Twilight. I guess it's partly my fault."

"How so?"

"Well, I've been used to rough living since I can remember and I tried to keep that from changing. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I should have been more willing to conform. So what do you say we start over?"

"Agreed." said Twilight.

"Twilight! I have your dress right here!" said Rarity walking into the room with a dress that had depictions of stars on it.

"That is a very nice looking dress Rarity."

"Thank you Nails. Don't even get me started on the trouble it caused me though."

"It's a long story." said Twilight.

The two left the Boutique together after Twilight had gotten her dress.

"Twilight?"

"Yes Nails?"

"See you around."

The remaining week went by quickly all coming to the day of the Grand Galloping Gala. The six mares were at Rarity's getting ready while Nails worked on getting transport.

"Is anypony sure that we can trust Nails to stay calm?" asked Twilight to the others.

"Why couldn't we?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well, he told me that the last time he was in Canterlot he angered a few of the guards. What if he tries to take a few weapons with him?"

"I guess you're right Twilight." said Applejack "before we let him into the castle grounds we will have to make sure that he doesn't have anything on him."

The six ponies finished getting dressed and went outside to see a carriage drawn by Big Macintosh and Nails.

"Weren't you supposed to get someone to take us besides yourself?" asked Fluttershy.

"Ya, well about that. You see, ponies haven't gotten used to me being around here so I couldn't get anypony to pull the carriage besides Big Mac here. Besides, when we get there I'm going to take him to the tower so that if I die for some reason he can know how to put my name in the book of Stallions."

"Well, fine then, but if you get too sweaty then I will refuse to let you enter the Gala." said Rarity.

"Ok." said Nails.

Nails and Big Macintosh pulled the carriage all the way to Canterlot. They filled their time talking to each other and sometimes about the time they spent in training. Sometimes they could hear the conversation going on inside the carriage but most of it was about things that didn't interest either of them. They finally reached Canterlot about three hours before the Gala started. Nails unhitched and allowed the six mares to exit the carriage. Big Macintosh took the carriage to the place Nails told him to take it to. When they turned around they were surprised to see Celestia waiting for them. Nails was the first to respond to her.

"Your Majesty." he said going into a bow.

"Thank you Nails, I assume that you are going to be wearing the traditional military formal attire."

"Yes, your Majesty." he said.

"Well then, you know the place to find the clothes so I suggest you go and get ready."

"Yes, your majesty Celestia." and with that Nails left to head towards the building that held his attire. As soon as he was gone Celestia turned to the other six.

"We have a problem."

Big Macintosh waited outside of the watchtower of Canterlot. Nopony had used it in years which is probably why all of the secrets of Equestrian Special Forces was stored in there. He saw Nails approaching and was surprised at what he was wearing.

Nails was wearing a blue suit and vest with a black tie. Pinned to his suit were several ribbons that must have been placed there whenever news of an accomplishment reached Celestia. There were also two stars on each shoulder; Big Macintosh assumed this was his rank.

"Why Nails, I must say I've never seen such an amazing suit."

"I'm actually quite impressed as well; Celestia took great care of each of the suits while we were gone. It's a true shame that mine is the only one that will ever be used. Now we have work to do before I head over to the Gala." with that Nails brought out a key which he used to open the door at the bottom of the tower. The two walked towards the top. When they got there, they were impeded by another door.

"This one is voice controlled; you have to know the password." Nails walked up to the door. "Into the face of evil the Black Stallions ride once more unto the breach." a click was heard from behind the door. "When I do die, you will be able to get into here by saying that. I hope you won't forget it."

"Nope." replied Big Macintosh

Nails opened the door and revealed the room whose secrets had been undisturbed for several years. There were six portraits on the wall above an open book. Each one depicted a name and a trait.

"The original Black Stallions." explained Nails as he walked towards the book. "This book is why we are here. It is the Tome of Stallions. The information and cause of death for each Black Stallion is listed here."

Big Macintosh walked up to the book where Nails had already written down a name.

"Second Lieutenant Flashfoot, Earth regiment, 3rd squadron, died at the hands of the enemy." Nails said aloud as he wrote, "Captain Firemane, Earth regiment, 3rd squadron, died in ambush by enemy commander; Command Sergeant Major Earthshaker, Earth regiment, 3rd squadron, died in bombardment by enemy aerial division; Warrant Officer Bloodheart, Earth regiment, 3rd squadron, died in enemy bombardment alongside Earthshaker." the pen in Nails's hand began to shake, he got it back under control in order to start writing. "Brigadier General Bladestorm, Earth regiment, 3rd squadron, died at the hands of Black Stallion operative Talon/Nails. Death agreed upon by both parties as a noble sacrifice for Equestrian welfare." Nails continued to write, "Major General Talon/Nails, Earth regiment, 3rd squadron. When I do die Big Macintosh, whatever killed me will go here. You are going to be the one to write it understand?"

"Yes sir." said Big Macintosh, normally he would have used his signature eyup, but since Nails was in uniform he was required to reply formally.

"Thank you Big Macintosh, I better get to the Gala."

Celestia waited until Nails had turned the corner before starting, "We have a problem."

"What's wrong Celestia? If you have a problem then why didn't you tell Nails?"

"Because he is the problem. I assume he told you six why the execution of Iron Foot is being put off."

"Ya, because Princess Luna is on a diplomatic mission to the griffon lands for peace talks." replied Rainbow Dash.

"Well because we are currently in peace talks with the griffons they decided it would be a good idea to send an ambassador to the Grand Galloping Gala."

"Oh no." Said Rainbow Dash, "Griffons and Nails do not mix well. He hates them."

"Exactly." said Princess Celestia, "You need to help me keep the two from seeing each other all night because I am scared about what might happen should the two meet."

"You don't have to tell us twice Princess!" said Twilight.

"First thing you need to do is make sure he doesn't sneak any weapons into the Gala. Knowing him and how he's trained I wouldn't put it past him to try."

"Yes ma'am." said Applejack. "He won't get anything into that Gala."

"Another thing, if he even sees that griffon I want you to do anything you can to keep them separated."

"Ok, anything else?"

"No, it can't be much simpler than that, but it will be extremely difficult. Do you know where he is going after he gets dressed?"

"He said something about the book of Stallions."

"That is right next to the castle, we better move."


	6. The Challenge

Chapter 6: The Challenge

Nails approached the castle gates. He was about to enter when he got stopped by Rainbow Dash.

"Hold on Nails." she said, "Princess Celestia told me to do this ok? Follow me." and with that Nails followed Rainbow Dash to the castle garden where a few ponies were talking. She took him out of eyesight where she immediately spoke.

"Take them off."

"Excuse me?"

"Your gun, knives, any weapons take them off."

"What makes you think I have weapons?" asked Nails, almost like magic a bullet fell out of his sleeve. "Fine."

Nails began taking his gun off, he then removed knives from various locations of his clothing. When he finally looked finished Rainbow asked him. "Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all." was Nails's reply.

"Ok then, we can go in. Nice suit by the way."

"Thanks" he said as the two walked into the castle.

Twilight and the others made their way into the main ballroom. Celestia told them that this is where the griffon ambassador was to remain for the entire night. This was so that Celestia could find him easily if needed. Their job was to keep the ambassador busy and Rainbow Dash was keeping Nails busy. They hoped that a confrontation between the two parties would be averted for the entire night however they had come up with a backup plan in case they saw each other. They quickly found the griffon as he was sitting at a table with royal guards on the four corners. They made their way over to him.

"I thought those faces were familiar." came a voice from the crowd. Twilight and the others turned around trying to find the source until Applejack found it.

"Over there! It's Whiskey!" the other four ponies looked around to see Whiskey standing by a group of armored ponies. Most likely the Forshan royal guard.

"How are you five?" asked Whiskey walking over to them.

"We're doing great! How about you?" all five answered.

"Well I'm not necessarily enjoying this party but I must ask where are Rainbow Dash and Talon?"

"Rainbow Dash is busy keeping him busy, and his name isn't Talon anymore, it's Nails." responded Rarity.

"Ah, so he did find his real name after all. Why is Rainbow Dash keeping him busy?"

"So that he doesn't see that griffon over there." responded Twilight.

"Oh, the griffon ambassador. A very good idea to keep them separated. They see each other and all hell could break loose."

"Have you talked to him yet?" asked Applejack.

"As a matter of fact I have, his name is Delta, and he is an old aerial fighter in the griffon army until he got grounded."

"That must be very bad. How did it happen?" asked Fluttershy.

"It seems that all of our conversation seems to come back to one pony."

"You mean Nails did that!" said Twilight.

"Yes, Nails shot him in the wing. I don't know how the griffon survived an encounter with Nails if he couldn't fly after the first shot but it must be a great story."

"Didn't you ask him?" said Rarity

"I would love to but I'm afraid that if I do he could get offended. You see, griffons are very touchy about combat encounters that go bad. If I were to say the wrong thing it could spell bad news for Forshan."

"Well, I guess that we could just talk to you. You seem to know a lot about griffons." said Fluttershy

"Come on Nails!" Rainbow Dash yelled as Nails lagged behind.

"I can't help it I need to talk to her majesty Celestia about a very important matter."

"Well, she's probably at the grand steps greeting guests. That's where she was last time."

"Ok then could you take me there?"

"Sure, it's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"You told me that the last time you were here you were around the wonderbolts all night. How are you coping with their untimely end?" Nails asked catching up to Rainbow Dash.

"I just can't believe that they're gone. I spent my whole life trying to get into them and now they're dead." Rainbow Dash responded solemnly.

"Did you know that they were candidates for the aerial division of Special Forces?"

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. They were eventually rejected due to the fact that if a group famed by the entire country were to suddenly disappear questions would have been asked. The same goes for you and Twilight."

"Now I know you're joking. Twilight and I never knew about special forces until we met you."

"That's the whole point. We have secret recruiters everywhere. They used to feed information to the military about possible military ponies. Some names such as yours and Twilight were lucky enough to slip by the militia's officers, straight into the hands of Special Forces."

"Who was the Ponyville recruiter?"

"I'm not allowed to say. Just because the Black Stallions have been disavowed doesn't mean that we can just throw names out into the open."

"Disavowed?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It means that the princess will no longer support or take responsibility for our actions. If I was to go into another country and cause trouble, I would be forced to take full responsibility for my actions, unless of course I am hired by another group."

"So you could still be hired?"

"If the price was right, yes, I could. But that would take a lot of money to serve another country; I am loyal to only Equestria."

"Heh, loyalty, I know that all too well." said Rainbow Dash.

"I know you do."

Rainbow Dash decided to take the conversation back a little. "So I was considered for special forces?"

"Don't let it go to your head. Even if you got accepted you could be released if you didn't make it through training."

"Wow." said Rainbow Dash, "anyway, here we are and there's the princess."

"Ok, mind coming with me to talk to her?"

"Not at all!" responded Rainbow Dash.

The two walked up to the princess ahead of the entire line of ponies. One of them spoke up.

"Hey, what makes you more important than the rest of us!" asked a pony with a heavy Canterlot accent.

"Simple, she knows his name." responded Rainbow Dash. The other pony was silent after that.

"Oh Nails, how are you?"

"I'm fine your majesty Celestia, I'm came to ask you how the diplomatic mission of Luna is going."

"Oh, it hit a few snags she won't be back for another month or two."

"Well shoot. I was hoping we could kill Iron Foot soon."

"I know you do, but I have to wait until Luna returns to make this decision or else I could get bad vibes going around Equestria."

"I understand your majesty, thank you for your time."

"Not at all Nails."

Nails and Rainbow Dash walked away from Celestia.

"Hey Nails?"

"Yes, Rainbow Dash?"

"I've noticed that you always seem to refer to princess Celestia as her majesty. Why do you do it like that?"

"It's proper military etiquette to greet a superior ranking official with the respect they deserve. Her majesty Celestia is the ruler of Equestria and therefore she deserves greater respect so I call Princess Celestia her majesty. I've always been loyal to the princesses so I give them the respect I feel they deserve."

"I never thought of it that way Nails."

"You would be surprised how polite the military can be."

"Nails!" a voice called from behind.

Nails turned around to see Celestia coming towards him.

"Yes, your majesty." Nails responded.

"I was informed by your friends earlier that you planned to write down the names of your squadron in the tome of Stallions before coming here."

"Yes your majesty, this is true."

"Well as I recall I would have entered their information in had not been for your request to do so yourself. I know of the deaths of the other four but not about the death of Brigadier General Bladestorm, would you please enlighten me as to how he met his end."

Nails looked at Rainbow Dash nervously before starting. "I did it your majesty."

"Such an act could be called treason, what was your reasoning behind doing such a thing?"

"Well your majesty, it happened after Rainbow Dash had been captured. Me and him were located in the same enemy base acting as double agents. When we got word that the element of loyalty had been captured and brought into the base we knew we had to act. Now if both of us had tried to free her our cover would have been blown. Recently he had taken a wound which caused permanent damage. Had the Forshan army learned of this they would have executed him anyway. We agreed that he would free Rainbow Dash and I would pretend to execute him when really we had agreed on it."

"That seems a good enough excuse. I trust you recovered his tags?"

"Yes your majesty. I have them with me tonight."

"Very good, here is the key."

"But, your majesty. Nopony is ever allowed in there except for you or your sister."

"I realize this, but I also realize that he was a great friend to you. You know the blessing and the location, I suggest you take the tags there and leave them."

"Yes your majesty." with that Nails started to leave. Rainbow Dash moved to follow.

"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash; I have to do this alone." Nails said as he continued to walk.

"It's ok Rainbow Dash; I bought you some time to meet up with your friends."

"Are you sure I have enough time?"

"You should have about thirty minutes." with that Rainbow Dash ran off to try and get the most out of the time she could be with her friends.

Nails stood at the door to the soul cemetery. It was said that the souls of dead soldiers came to rest here, however a soul could not enter unless its tags were placed there along with the correct blessing being said. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. He saw rows and rows of tombstones with hooks. Each hook was occupied save for two, Bladestorm's and his own. He began searching for Bladestorm's stone. He finally found it and laughed a quiet chuckle, his was the one right next to it. He placed the tags on the hook and started the blessing.

"Bladestorm, soldier of Equestria, strongest of warriors. You came to an untimely end in service of your country, the Black Stallions were proud to have you. May your soul rest in peace knowing that your sacrifice was noble and your heart untainted. Farewell soldier."

With that Nails began walking out. He took out the last cigar he had. He had managed to sneak it in. He had business to attend to in the form of a griffon that his friends and the princess had been trying to hide from him all night. But first, he needed his gun.

"Hey girls!" Rainbow Dash panted as she ran up to her friends.

"Rainbow! You're supposed to be distracting Nails!" Twilight chastised.

"Celestia sent him on an errand; she said I have about thirty minutes."

"I hope you're right" Applejack said, "anyway, you will never guess who we found."

"The ambassador?" Rainbow Dash guessed.

"Right title, wrong country." said a voice from behind her friends. "Do you remember me Rainbow Dash?"

"Whiskey, what are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Celestia and I are in peace talks right now; since this party occurred I decided that I would attend it." Whiskey responded before looking over at the griffon ambassador. "So that's where he got it from."

"Got what from Whiskey?" asked Twilight.

"That griffon just lit a cigar much like the ones that Nails smokes; I'm assuming that he got his habit from griffons."

"Strange considering how he acts about them."

"I agree." said Whiskey scanning the room. "Hey Rainbow Dash, didn't you say we had about thirty minutes?"

"Yeah I did, why do you ask?"

A gunshot rang throughout the room silencing everyone. Everyone looked at the source of the sound except for one griffon. Nails stood in the doorway unlit cigar in his mouth, revolver in his hand. Smoke was coming out of the barrel.

"Oh, horseapples." said Rainbow Dash she turned to look at the griffon who she assumed was now dead to see him still sitting in his chair. The only difference was that his cigar was no longer lit and a lot shorter.

"That doesn't make any sense." Rainbow thought, "I'm certain that Nails would have tried to kill him."

The four guards around the griffon leaped up to try and tackle Nails.

"Halt." came a voice. Everyone turned to see that the griffon had put up his hand to stop the guards.

"Should we interfere?" asked Fluttershy

"No, don't even try." said Whiskey.

"Why not!" asked Twilight in a hushed tone.

"Because I'm curious about what might happen next." Whiskey said as Celestia galloped into the room. Standing beside the governor of Forshan she got a quick explanation from Whiskey as to what happened.

Twilight turned her attention back to the griffon and Nails. The griffon had now brought out his own gun. He took aim and fired. The shot hit its mark on the cigar that Nails had in his mouth. Nails and the griffon each removed the cigars from their mouths and walked towards each other. Twilight started to panic expecting a fight to break out. The griffon put his cigar next to Nails's. It was much shorter.

"You always were a better shot Talon."

Nails chuckled, "Just had to see that I still got it Delta."

Eight jaws hit the ground.

Nails turned to his friends before speaking.

"I see that you have not been properly introduced. I would like you to meet the only griffon that never gave me a reason to hate him besides being a griffon. This is Delta, he's my cousin."


	7. Reunion

Chapter 7: Reunion

"What were you thinking Nails!" Twilight yelled at him, "You could have hit him!"

"If I had, then I would have lost." Nails replied.

"Lost?" asked Fluttershy.

"Ya, it's a game me and him used to play. We would put a cigar in our mouths and try to cut them as short as possible with our guns." Nails replied.

"Hell of a game." said Whiskey.

"You called Talon Nails. Why did you do this?" asked Delta.

"That's my real name. I found it at the wreck on a piece of paper."

"So you did go back there?"

"Yes. Oh, before I forget, would you care to accompany me to the gardens?"

"Not at all."

The two departed for the gardens leaving eight ponies confused.

"Do you think we should go after them?" asked Applejack.

"No." replied Whiskey, "Those two have not seen each other in years. I think it best that we give them their space for this one."

Nails and Delta walked into a secluded area of the gardens where they decided no one would find them when Nails spoke up.

"Strike two."

"Already? It seems like only a few weeks ago we got word that you captured Iron Foot. What else happened?"

"I moved to Ponyville. Or rather it moved to me. There isn't any fighting it Delta!"

"How did that happen?"

"I moved outside of the town limits and so they just expanded the town to include my house!"

"So it is true that you can't fight it. If that's the second event then there's only one left. How long until the execution?"

"The execution will take place whenever Luna returns from the diplomatic mission with the griffons. Based on how fate is cruel, the talks will keep getting extended until I give in."

The two sat quiet for a minute until Delta finally broke the silence.

"How many know about it?"

"Just three: you, me, and the bastard."

"So do you plan on telling those ponies that seemed to know you?"

"Only if a time comes where I have to, the fewer people that know about it the better." said Nails.

"Remember how we met?"

"Like it was yesterday. I saw you and I had just gotten my gun. I tried to shoot you and missed and hit you in that wing. I got really close to you and was about to stab you before you told me who you were."

"And?" said Delta expectantly.

"And I didn't believe you so I hit you in the mouth for lying. Did you ever get those teeth replaced?"

Delta chuckled before grinning revealing several gaps in his teeth.

"Why would I fix something that you did to me? I owe you my life."

"You owe me a lot of lives. I saved your ass more than once you know."

"Ya." Delta looked up at the night sky. "So this was strike two?"

"Ya."

"Listen, Nails wasn't it?"

"Ya."

"Listen Nails, if what we fear does happen, I will have flight teams ready to assist in any way possible."

"Even if I get an army behind me the only time that would matter would be when I was alone."

"You know that you're never alone Nails."

"I know you would come to my side in an instant Delta, but in truth only I can fight this battle."

"I guess you're right."

Delta reached into the pocket on the suit he was wearing and pulled out a cigar. "I think you may want in case something happens." he said as he handed the cigar to Nails who put it into the pocket on his suit.

"Thanks."

The two sat in silence until a voice from behind them broke the silence.

"Nails?"

Nails turned around to see Princess Celestia standing there.

"Yes your majesty." said Nails as he bowed.

"What you did tonight was extremely foolish; you could have killed the griffon ambassador. Then the peace talks would have been shattered."

"I understand your majesty. I accept any punishment you decide upon."

"Now hold on Nails." said Delta, "Princess Celestia, Nails and I go back to when he could barely shoot a gun. I watched him grow into the greatest shooter in all of history. I would have trusted him to make that shot over any of the griffon army's best marksmen."

Celestia was taken aback by what Delta had just said. Griffons by nature were extremely proud of their own race and held all races beneath their own. For him to state that Nails was a better shooter than any of the griffon army's marksmen was a very extreme statement for a griffon.

"You say that Nails is a better shot than any griffon?"

"He trusted me to make that shot. For him that was a very trivial shot."

"Based on what you have said ambassador Delta, I have decided to withhold all punishment towards Nails. I hope that this incident doesn't spark any repercussions from the griffons?"

"They will be told that this was a very great night."

"Very well then." Celestia turned to Nails, "I believe your friends are beginning to miss you." after saying this the princess turned to return to the party.

"Your friends? I thought you told me that you were alone?"

"I am alone. They're just always looking for me."

Delta turned to leave before noticing that Nails was not following. He turned around and was asked a question.

"Delta?"

"Yes Nails."

"You said that I would have to hold out for as long as I can."

"That's right."

"At what point do I give in."

Delta went back and sat next to Nails, "I think that the point you give in at is when you become faced with a two-way road. One way may seem easier, but the cost of taking this road is steep and leads to pain. The other road however, though it is harder to take, leads to something far more important."

"What's that Delta?"

"It's the thing that keeps us separated from the animals Nails, we are not savages we are soldiers. My duty was to protect the griffons of the world. Your job is to protect Equestria. At what point do we let our own suffer for our own desires?"

"Never, such act would be treason."

"Exactly Nails, you need to remember that while one road is easy, the other one is the one that keeps the whole from turning against each other. When you became a soldier you realized that sacrifice was involved, that you may die for what you believe in. Is it any different now?"

"No it's not." Nails said, "Thanks Delta, I'm glad that out of all the griffons of the world, that you care about me." At this, Nails and Delta left the garden.

The two walked back into the castle and towards the main ballroom where they found Whiskey explaining to the six ponies what a bounty was.

"You see," Whiskey said trying to explain, "When somebody does something very bad they become wanted. Now there are people called bounty hunters who will go out and find these people. Once they find them they will kill them. They don't work for free though, you have to offer a reward for that pony and when they show a sheriff the body they will collect the reward for it."

"Does the bounty hunter always kill the pony?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes Fluttershy. They always kill them." Whiskey responded

"Why?" Fluttershy asked again.

"Because," said Nails coming into the conversation, "Once life has no value, death has its price. I would know, back before I became a mercenary, I was the most famous bounty hunter around. I became a mercenary once the ponies came to me and paid me before I found the wanted ponies."

"I remember those days. That was when a wanted poster was more of a headline for who was about to die." said Whiskey.

"Ya, well the night is getting late and I believe that Big Macintosh would be getting bored. It pains me to say this Delta but I guess that we have to leave now. Farewell."

"Good-bye Nails, I wish you the greatest of luck."

"As do I." replied Nails.

"Good-bye Nails, I hope we see each other soon."

"Good-bye Whiskey."

The seven ponies left at this point. Nails found Big Macintosh waiting patiently by the carriage.

"Didn't you get bored?" asked Nails.

"I ain't been here for most of the night; I just got back from a donut shop."

The two hitched up and worked their way back to Ponyville. It was about midnight when they finally did get back. Nails helped each of them off the carriage and then they all retired to their homes. When Nails got to his house he didn't go straight to his bed. He walked around and thought about all the time he had been in Ponyville. His thoughts went back to that day when he first visited, how happy each of his friends had been to see him. Finally, he decided that he couldn't sleep. He decided that he would do some exploring along the cliff wall and see if he could find a good spot to do most of his mining. He took out a match and lit a fire. Then he took a torch and tied it to his hoof. He anchored his rappelling nylon and started to descend down the cliff.

At first he didn't see anything special, but then something caught his eye. He looked to his left and saw a plot of land jettisoned out from the cliff but it wasn't the land that caught his eye. He slowly crawled over to the ground trying to see what it was that had caught his eye. Once he got close he started to descend once more until he saw it.

The bones of a dead pegasus impaled on a stalagmite. He had seen worse things in his life, much worse. This was probably just a case of bad flying with high winds. But then again, he wondered why the pegasus's skull was facing up. His answer came quickly after that.

A sharp gust of wind blew into the area from over the lake. As the wind hit the cliff it was redirected upwards and towards an overhang. Now he understood perfectly, a pegasus had been flying around this area when a sudden gust came. The updraft pushed the pegasus into the overhang either knocking them unconscious or breaking their wings. When the wind died down the pegasus, unable to save themself, had fallen onto one of the stalagmites killing them. His eyes widened in fear. He quickly made his way back up the cliff to his house where he got out his backup nylon. He went over to where the overhang had been and found an anchor for the rope. He tied the rope to a tree that he had decided would suit his needs. Satisfied with his work, he made his way back to his house. He tried to go to sleep but couldn't.

The next day found Nails wide awake in bed. As Special Forces he was used to having sleepless nights and then having to perform a mission the next morning. As he sat up in his bed he rubbed his eyes. He was almost finished building his workshop and planned on finishing it today. He went outside to find a few embers still burning in the fire pit from the previous night. He could use these to start a new fire. He gathered a few grasses and put them on the fire to start the initial burn. He then added a few sticks and he quickly had a burning fire. He prepared a breakfast of a few eggs he had bought from Fluttershy and quickly set to work. The other day his furnace had been delivered and today he was going to build the location for it and place it. Once this was done all he needed was his anvil and he could start working. It was about noon when everything was in order. He looked at his handiwork. There was an empty stump in the middle of his shop which was where the anvil would be housed when it arrived. The walls were lined with various tools; the furnace was at the back of the room. There was a barrel filled with water next to the anvil. His work was finished. He turned around and saw Pinkie Pie sprinting towards him wearing a crazy looking umbrella hat. This made him wonder about the sanity of the pony as she got closer to him.

"Nails! Nails! My tail! My tail!" the pink pony said as she got close.

The sanity of this pony was no longer questionable, it was gone.

"What about your tail Pinkie?"

"It's a-twitcha twitchin!"

If there was a negative sanity, this was it.

"And?"

"That means that something's gonna fall!"

Never mind that last thought, this was a negative sanity.

"Pinkie Pie, nothing is going to fall." Nails said before he got hit in the head by something.

"Ow."

"Hey Nails? This anvil is addressed to you."

"What the hell."

My thoughts about Pinkie? She's not insane I love her. But I saw this as an opportunity to have a little fun. If I was to describe Pinkie in a statement of how she lived her life it would be this: "If you're going to do something, do it in a way and get such a task done that it leaves people staring and wondering 'What the hell? How the hell did you do that?'" Pinkie Pie is one of my favorites, probably number 3 out of all ponies. Why? Because she is so random. And she will stay that way... (Pinkie Pie jumps out of sandwich)

"FOREVER!"

Me: "What the Hell? How the Hell did you do that?"


	8. The Chips Go Down

Chapter 8: The Chips Go Down

Nails was hard at work getting his furnace lit when Applejack slowly made her way to his shop. It had finally been the last straw with this rusty old plow that they had tried to keep using and she was done with having to work harder than was needed. She had decided that Nails could fix it and get it plowing through the earth like knife through butter. She walked up to his shop just as the furnace began to blaze so hot that she could feel its heat outside.

"Now that is one humdinger of a fire." Applejack said as she walked into the shop. Sweat had begun forming on her body. She looked at Nails to see him almost unaffected. "How are you not sweatin from that fire?"

"Because my body is more accustomed to heat than yours." said Nails as he pumped air into the furnace. "I believe that this is no friendly visit?"

"That's right." Applejack said as she unhitched from the cart she had used to carry the plow here. "I've had it with this here plow. I want you to fix it up nice so that I don't have to break my back every time we need to plow."

"Ok, this seems like a simple enough fix. How long has it been this rusty?"

"Well the rust started forming around four years ago."

"Four years? This just got a little harder. At that amount of time the blade will have become dulled. I'm going to have to reshape it."

"How long do you think that'll take?" Applejack asked him.

"Maybe an hour or two. Not long at all, you can stay and watch if you want to."

"Well I just might do that." Applejack said as she eyed the shop, "Do you know where I can get some water though?"

"The lake water is pretty dirty, but I made a sand filter for it. Lower a bucket down on that pulley out there," Nails said indicating a pulley that jutted out from the cliff, "then pour it into the box of sand beside the shop."

"So lemme get this straight. If I want clean water I have to pour the water into even more dirt?"

"You would be surprised how well that works." Nails said smiling a little.

"Alright then, I guess that it's better than nothin." said Applejack as she started walking towards the bucket. As she was lowering it down a voice caught her attention.

"Hey AJ, what are you doing here?" asked Rainbow Dash as she came to a hover right in front of Applejack.

"Hey Rainbow, I've had it with that old rusted plow, so I brought it to Nails here to get fixed. What are you doin here?"

"Now that this area is a part of Ponyville I have to do the weather management around here. We have to move in a few shower clouds over the lake today."

"Well I guess you're busy then," said Applejack as she brought the bucket, which was now filled to the brim, back up to the pulley. "I'll just go and wait for Nails to get finished." she said as she turned back towards the shop. "Guess I'll see you around?"

"See ya AJ!" said Rainbow Dash as she made her way back to the clouds that she had to place.

Applejack found the filter and saw a large bowl underneath it. "Well, here goes nothin." she said as she poured the water into the sand. She waited as water began to flow out the other side and noticed that it was a lot clearer than the slightly browned water she had poured in. "Well, I'll be!" she said as she finished drinking the water. "Nails was right!" she said as she made her way back into the shop. As soon as she walked inside her jaw dropped.

Nails was walking with ease towards the furnace with the plow on his back.

"How the hay are you doin that!" said Applejack as she saw him place the tip in the furnace. "That thing must weigh around 500 Lbs.!" she said getting closer.

"Military training is tough and takes a lot of strength." Nails said as he held the plow in place with his claw and pumped the billow with his free hoof, "I believe that back during training I held the record by carrying 1500 lbs. for three hundred yards." he said as he flipped the plow's tip onto the anvil and began hammering.

"Still that's incredible!" Applejack exclaimed still amazed at the strength he had shown.

"Well, when you spend most of your time doing strenuous work, you'll get a lot of strength." he said as he placed the plow into the furnace for another round of heating.

"Well that is mighty impressive." said Applejack as she took a seat behind one of the benches.

"By the way, I couldn't help but hear you talking to someone out there. Who was it?"

"How did you hear that?" Applejack exclaimed.

"Trained ears." was his response.

"Anyway, it was Rainbow Dash."

When Nails heard Rainbow Dash's name he stopped working and set down his hammer. "Rainbow Dash? What was she doing here?" he said nervously.

"She said something about now that this was part of Ponyville she had to manage the weather around here."

"Applejack, this is important. Where is she doing work?"

"Over the lake. Why?"

"Dammit!" exclaimed Nails as he dropped his hammer.

"What was that for Nails? Weather management is normal around here. What has gotten you so worked up?"

Nails didn't answer; instead he jumped over his workbench and ran to the edge of the cliff. Sure enough Rainbow Dash was out there directing the cloud flow. She was too far away for her to hear anything and the wind was blowing towards him.

"The wind." he said as Applejack finally reached him.

"What is your problem Nails?" Applejack asked.

"There's no time Applejack! I need you to follow me right now!"

Nails bolted into a sprint along the cliff he didn't pay any attention to how close he was getting. He looked out across the lake and noticed that the tops of a few of the trees were parallel to the ground.

"Come on, come on!" he said to himself as he broke into a sprint. Applejack was having little trouble keeping up with him but didn't understand why she was running in the first place. Nails looked out at the lake and saw a ripple caused by the wind swiftly moving towards them.

Rainbow Dash looked at the clouds she still had left to place. Her conversation with Applejack, as small as it was, had put her behind schedule. However, something down on the ground close to the cliff caught her eye. She knew that she had to get to work and normally she would have ignored it until she was done working, but this time ,for some strange reason, curiosity got the better of her and she made her way over to see what it was. As she closed in on the white object she noticed a few pillars of rock sticking out of the ground. She couldn't remember what these were called but she saw that whatever had caught her attention was caught on one of them. She quickened her pace eager to see what it was. When she got close she had to keep herself from vomiting as she saw bones of a pegasus impaled by the sharp rocks. She couldn't understand what these were doing here and hovered there thinking through several scenarios.

Up on the cliff, Nails had finally stopped by a tree. Applejack noticed that there was something around the tree and was about to ask before she heard Nails yell.

"Rainbow Dash! Get away now!"

"Get away from what?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the impaled bones trying to figure out what had happened when she heard a voice call out to her.

"Rainbow Dash! Get away now!" it was Nails's voice, but she had no idea what he was talking about. She was about to yell back to ask him why when she felt a strong updraft began pushing her upwards. It caught her so off guard that she lost all control and began rocketing upwards towards the rock overhang without any abilities to stop. She managed to finally get upright before she slammed into the hard rock.

Nails heard a sickening crunch as Rainbow Dash hit the rocks. He was certain that based on that sound something had broken. He knew it had been the wings.

"Applejack, I'm going to have to go get her. You stay up here and as soon as I yell back up, you're going to pull us up ok?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's no time to explain! Just do it ok!" he yelled at her. She knew that something was extremely wrong now.

"Ok."

Nails walked to the tree Applejack had seen earlier and quickly harnessed himself into the rope. He made sure that it was tight and started to back up. His blue eyes focused onto the tree line. He saw the trees return to their upright positions and started watching the ripple die down. Once it reached a certain point he took a deep breath.

"Here we go." he started to run as hard as he could. Once he reached the cliff wall, he jumped. Applejack watched in horror as Nails got further and further from the cliff before he disappeared from view.

As soon as Nails was airborne he felt his griffon instincts take over. The world seemed to slow down as adrenaline kicked in. He waited for the rope to tighten and swing him in an arc before looking for Rainbow Dash. He saw her cyan body falling while she flailed her legs out of fear. He angled his body so that the wind flow around his body would move him directly to her. He noticed that she was getting extremely close to the spiked ground.

Rainbow Dash was 50ft away from the ground. Nails angled his body to pick up speed.

25ft. Nails reached out his arms.

10ft. Nails was getting close.

5ft. Nails was inches away.

Right before Rainbow Dash's body hit the stalagmite Nails wrapped his arms around her and took her with him in his swing towards the cliff wall. Nails rotated his body so that he was facing backwards and when they collided with the wall he absorbed most of the blow. The rope began to sway back and forth before coming to a halt leaving him dangling below the cliff, holding on to Rainbow Dash.

"Applejack! Pull us up!" he called to above. He instantly felt Applejack begin to pull them up. Slowly but surely they were moving.

"You saved my life." Rainbow Dash said to Nails as they were carried upwards. "I-I don't know how to thank you."

Nails was afraid of this.

The two finally made it to the top where Nails set Rainbow Dash down and started to inspect her wings. The right wing was fine but when he put his attention to the left wing he found it to be worse. The bone within the wing had broken near the joint taking away any possible mobility with it. He suspected that it wasn't a complete break but a fracture. He didn't know what to expect until he got her to a hospital. He felt her left shoulder to see if there was any more damage. He felt the bone out of socket meaning it had been dislocated. He put pressure on just the bones.

"Does this hurt Rainbow?"

"Only a little at the joint." she responded to him.

This was good news. Because the she didn't hurt in the bones meant that it was only a dislocation and not fractured. He could fix this easily. He went over to the tree and pulled off a branch. He placed it in his mouth and bit down. The wood was flexible and almost soft. Just what he needed. He walked back over to Rainbow Dash.

"Hold this." he said as he placed the branch in her mouth.

"Why?" was the muffled response he got. It didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to know why.

Nails placed his hoof on the shoulder and grabbed her leg with his claw. He quickly jerked the leg and popped it back into the socket. Rainbow Dash bit down hard on the wood as the pain hit her. After he was finished doing that, Nails took the wood out of Rainbow Dash's mouth. It had several deep bite marks in it but there were no holes all the way through.

"Open up." he said. When she did he examined her teeth and once he decided that nothing was missing he picked her back up and placed her on his back.

"Applejack, go tell everyone I've taken Rainbow Dash to the hospital."

"Ok." was Applejack response as she started to run back towards town.

Applejack stopped at the library first because it was the closest to Nails's shop. She was glad to find that Rarity was also in the library with her.

"What's wrong Applejack?" asked Twilight as she saw Applejack run into the library.

"I need you two to go get Pinkie Pie while I head to Fluttershy's. It's Rainbow Dash; she's been hurt real bad. Nails is taking her to the hospital right now." Twilight and Rarity jumped up and started to head for sugarcube corner while Applejack made her way to Fluttershy's.

Both groups made it to the hospital at about the same time. They burst in to see Nurse Redheart coming out of a pair of swinging doors.

"Nurse Redheart!" yelled Twilight, "Where's Rainbow Dash!"

"She's in here." was the reply they got, "You can come in if you want."

The five ponies bolted to the door and burst in to find Rainbow Dash in a hospital bed. Her left wing had been immobilized and she looked like she was in pain.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for coming you guys." was the reply they got.

"What happened?" asked Fluttershy.

"I was working over the lake when an updraft caught me and slammed me into the cliff and broke my wing. I would be dead right now if Nails hadn't saved me."

"Speaking of which, where is Nails?" asked Rarity noticing the stallion's absence from the room.

"Nails?" came the voice of Nurse Redheart from behind the friends, "He left right after he dropped off Rainbow Dash. He did not have very nice words to say either."


	9. A Burning Hate

Chapter 9: A Burning Hate

Nails walked into the Everfree forest. As long as he had lived in Ponyville he had never been inside it. He knew the history of it that barely anypony knew. How it had once been a grand city and even more important to him, the original headquarters for the Black Stallions. He had been told the stories of the original Black Stallions, how they had been the elements of harmony and had fought against the same enemy that he, hundreds of years later, had defeated. He made his way through thick foliage and underbrush until he came to an old ruined fortress. He walked inside something that many ponies were too scared to even make the journey to. He walked along the corridors until he found what he was looking for. The dungeon, positioned at the lowest point possible inside the fortress. He stepped over bones of dead ponies as he walked by each cell, searching.

He came to a cell without a number. This was it. He walked inside and found a stone that was different than the others. To the untrained eye it would have been invisible, but he had known what to look for. He pressed it in and noises could be heard as ancient gears and chains rattled to life. The wall split down the middle and started to open. Once it was fully open, Nails walked inside and let the wall close behind him. As soon as it was shut light began to fill the chamber.

"Magic." he muttered to himself as he watched magical balls of light move around near the ceiling. He walked into the chamber that had most likely been the briefing room for the six ponies that had occupied this building. He began searching through drawers until he found a map. Taking it to a table in the middle of the room, he opened it to see that, as he had predicted, it was an old map of Equestria. It looked brand new even though Nails knew it was centuries old. He sat down on the floor and took out the cigar Delta had given him. He lit it and let the smell of tobacco fill his nostrils before placing it in his mouth. He looked at the map. He saw grand cities such as Canterlot and Everfree City, along with a few smaller specks. One of these specks was labeled Manehatten. Nails chuckled and thought to himself about how much things had changed. He found the border of this map and saw a small portion of Forshan. This must have been one of the last few remaining maps that included Forshan on them. Nails began to look around the room. He found that it had several doors that each led to a different chamber. He looked for the one that led to the reconnaissance room. When he found it he walked through the door to find shelves and shelves filled with books. He began to look through every single one trying to find what he was looking for. It was going to be a long search.

"Ok Rainbow Dash, no flying until a week after your wing has healed. I want you to come here every week for physical therapy, do you understand?"

"Yes mam." Rainbow Dash responded to Nurse Redheart as the six left the hospital.

"Wow Rainbow. You're really lucky that Nails was there to save you." said Twilight as they began walking towards Ponyville.

"You're right Twilight. Nails is a hero! We need throw him a hero party! I need to start planning right away!" said Pinkie Pie as she dashed off for sugarcube corner.

"Ya she was!" said Applejack talking to Twilight, "But it's weird. It seemed like Nails knew exactly what was going to happen and where it would happen. You don't think he got a Pinkie sense of his own do ya? That may be how he survived all those years of war."

"I seriously doubt that Applejack." said Rarity, "Pinkie's is weird enough, I doubt that Nails would have such a trait."

"Ya," said Rainbow Dash, "Besides, we've seen him fight and I think that's a good enough explanation for how he survived."

"Still, I wonder where he went." said Fluttershy, "Did he say anything Rainbow Dash?"

"No, he didn't. I wonder why he left two." said Rainbow Dash.

"Ya, think we could find him back at his shop?" asked Applejack, "He may have gone back for somethin."

"You may be right Applejack, the next time we see him we can ask him." said Twilight.

"Still, I don't think it's like him. Leaving like that." said Rarity.

"Well we really won't know until we ask, will we?" said Rainbow Dash.

The other four nodded in agreement.

Nails tossed another book aside. So far he hadn't found what he was looking for and he was beginning to get angry. He reached for another book and looked through it quickly looking for key words. Nothing. He was about to give up when he noticed a book that looked like it didn't have pages, but was really a block of wood painted to look like pages. He took it off the shelf and examined it. The pages were definitely fake, making this a box; something was hidden on the inside. Nails opened the box to see a scroll. He dropped the box and held onto the scroll before opening it.

He read its contents. With every word that he read he grew angrier and angrier. This scroll was the reason he could not have freewill. This scroll was the reason the borders of Ponyville changed. This scroll was the reason the griffons had sent Delta to that Grand Galloping Gala. This scroll was the reason he had saved Rainbow Dash. He hated every last word on it. He knew that the building was protected so that if something happened on the inside, the only thing that could escape would be ponies. He took out his lighter and clicked it on. He held the paper up and lit the corner of it on fire before tossing back into the room. It landed on the pile of books Nails had made catching them on fire. Nails threw one of the book shelves onto the fire to feed it. He had only been this angry once before. He left the room and headed for the entrance. He exited the building and turned around. No smoke was coming out meaning he was safe from detection. He started to walk back to his house.

"Pinkie Pie, are you sure that Nails would be ok with a hero party?" asked Twilight as the group had gathered at Sugarcube Corner.

"Well, Duh! Of course he would like one because he's a hero! I can't throw a Rainbow Dash got hurt party! That would be negative!"

"I know but it's just that the way he acted after he saved Rainbow Dash that makes me wonder if he wanted to be the hero. I think he just wants this to blow over quickly." said Twilight as she used her magic to help Pinkie Pie place streamers around the room.

All six ponies were gathered there helping Pinkie Pie set up her hero party for Nails.

Normally, Rainbow Dash would have been helping place things high up, but with the cast keeping her from flying she was helping Applejack with tables.

"Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes sugarcube?" responded the farm pony.

"Can you come with me for a second?"

"Sure thing."

Applejack followed Rainbow Dash into another room where Rainbow Dash shut the door behind them and locked it.

"Applejack, I'm going to tell you something and I need you to swear that you won't tell anypony else."

"What is it sugarcube?"

"Swear you won't tell anypony first."

"Ok, I swear. Now could you tell me what this is about?"

"Well, it's about... Nails."

"What are you telling me about him that I needed to swear to... Unless." a huge grin formed on Applejack's face.

"Applejack!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't think you would have feelings for him."

"Well, not at first no, but once I started to hang around him. I could just relate to a lot of the things that happened in his life. We were both orphaned as children and well, I spent a lot of time with him back in Forshan and he was really nice to me. What really made me realize my feelings was when he saved me from falling. I don't know if he feels the same about me though and I don't know what to do."

"Nails was an orphan?"

"Ya, he didn't tell you?"

"No, how did it happen?"

"He didn't tell me, all I know is that it has something to do with griffons."

"Wow, that explains why he hates them so much."

"We're getting off-topic here."

"You're right." Applejack said, "I think he cares about you a lot."

"What makes you think that?"

"Easy. He was willing to jump off a cliff for you wasn't he?"

"I guess you're right, and when he caught me, he took the blow from the wall instead of letting me hit it."

"Ya see? He does care about you. Just don't do something stupid and I have a feeling that you two could become really close."

"Why are you telling me to not do anything stupid?"

"Because I know you would."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her mane with her hoof, "Ya, I guess you're right. When do you think I should tell him?"

"Well, if we're right and he does care about you, I think that the best time for you to tell him would be at the party tomorrow."

"Really? That soon?"

"Ya, I feel that if you tell him while what he did for you was fresh on his mind, he may be more open to a relationship."

"Thanks Applejack, I knew that I could trust you."

"I'm always here for ya sugarcube."

"Just one thing."

"What?"

"If something goes wrong, please kick him in the jaw."

"No problem sugarcube." Applejack laughed as the two returned to the preparations for the party.

Nails returned to his house late that night. He felt bad about what he had done. This was the second time he had let anger control his actions. At least this time wasn't as bad, the last time it happened he had gone into a fit of pure rage. He walked into his workshop to see Applejack's plow sitting there. After all of the day's events he had completely forgotten about it. He had told her it wouldn't take long and now it had taken the whole day. He decided that he would finish it before he went to bed. He got to work cleaning the metal and reshaping it until it looked brand new. Satisfied, he extinguished the furnace and closed his shop. He walked into his house where he got out some bread. He couldn't cook now so this would have to suffice. He ate some of the loaf and put it back into the cabinet. He was about to go to bed when a letter caught his eye. He took a closer look and saw the Canterlot royal seal on it. He used his lighter to light a candle and sat down to read it. It read-

Dear Nails,

I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, am pleased to inform you that the peace talks with the griffons have come to a successful end. The treaty is to be signed in a few days and as soon as Princess Luna returns from the mission, we can carry out the execution of Iron Foot. I hope that this news pleases you and that you can tell your friends as soon as you can. Also, the peace talks with Forshan are progressing very nicely. We may even be able to reopen the border between our two countries and let trade prosper.

Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria

Nails looked at the letter indifferently. He was glad that peace had been agreed upon by the griffons and that peace was about to be declared with Forshan, but when he had attended the Grand Galloping Gala, he had been told that it was expected to be another month or two. This was only a little over a week later. This worried him greatly. He looked back at the door and saw another piece of paper. One that hadn't been there earlier. He picked it up and read it.

Congratulations Nails! You're invited to your own hero party! There will be games and dancing and fun and food and friends and balloons and streamers! Lots of streamers! It's tomorrow at 6:00 P.M. Be there!

Nails understood everything now.


	10. Two Roads, One Right Choice

Chapter 10: Two Roads, One Right Choice

Nails didn't get any sleep that night. He finally gave up sleeping and went outside to his safe. Once he was there he reached in and got out the old tattered book that had caused so much trouble in his life. He had taped the last page with his name on it back into the book. As he looked into the book and remembered everything that still had to happen, tears began to form in his eyes. He rarely cried unless it was something that reminded him of his mother. She had loved him enough to save him, but all he had to know her was this little tattered book. He closed his eyes and pictured what he always thought his mother looked like. An earth pony with a light green coat and a blue mane. She had a long flowing tail and her mane was styled so that it flowed to her side. The picture he thought of just made him cry even more. He had never known either of his parents. He had never seen either of them. All he knew was what he thought they looked like. He looked outside and saw small rays of light peeking over the horizon. It was about 6:00 A.M. he had twelve hours until the party. He decided that he might as well take Applejack's plow over to her farm. He decided that since Applejack had brought it in a cart, she would want the cart back so he put the plow into the cart and started making the trek to Sweet Apple Acres. As he got near he saw Big Macintosh harvesting, but Applejack was nowhere to be seen. Nails walked up to Big Macintosh.

"Hey Mac. Where's Applejack?"

"She went over to Sugarcube Corner to finish preparing for a party."

"Ok, well if she comes back tell her I left the plow in the barn ok?"

"Will do."

"Thanks."

Nails left at this point. He decided that it would be best if he stayed away from Sugarcube Corner for the day until the party. He made his way back to his house. Surely he could do something to take up time. He had an idea about what to make but it would probably take him all day and he would have to work with small parts. He took out a few golden bits and set to work.

6:00 finally came around and Nails had finished working in his workshop so he closed up and headed over to Sugarcube Corner. He packed some things to take for the party in his saddlebags and made his way to Sugarcube Corner.

When he got there the party was already in full swing, but that didn't stop everypony from stopping what they were doing to welcome him. He greeted all of them and set down his saddlebags before he headed over to the snacks table. It had been a long day and right now he was hungry. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stayed together most of the night as the party went on. Applejack kept trying to get Rainbow Dash to tell Nails how she felt about him, but nervousness kept becoming a factor for the normally brash pony. She had never done anything like this before and was scared of failure. Applejack finally reminded her that no matter what, she was going to be right behind her. Rainbow Dash finally decided to buck up and tell him. She swallowed hard as she told Applejack that she was about to do it. Applejack gave her a reassuring pat on the back to calm her down.

"It'll be fine. I'm right behind ya Rainbow." said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash walked up to Nails who had just finished bobbing for an apple. He was sitting at a table eating it when she got there. She turned to look back at Applejack who gave her a reassuring wink. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she started.

"Hey, uh, Nails?"

"Yes Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash thought through what she was going to say several times before finally opening her mouth.

"Well, it's just that, I uh, well, I really care about you and like you. I was just wondering, after all that's happened recently, how you felt about me?" Rainbow Dash tried to smile but her mouth was quivering so much that she couldn't.

Nails just sat there for a while, staring down at the table before he began to speak.

"No."

"What?"

"No Rainbow Dash, I want you to leave me alone."

"What?"

"You heard me, just stay away from me." While Nails said this he hadn't looked up from the table. Tears began to form in Rainbow Dash's eyes. She had known that failure was a possibility but she hadn't expected Nails to be this cold. He was supposed to be her friend. Couldn't he have just said it nicely instead of telling her to leave him alone? She couldn't help it as she began to cry; she ran out of the room and left Sugarcube Corner running out into the night. When Nails turned around he was met with a strong kick to his jaw.

"How could you be so cruel!" yelled Applejack as the others watched with shocked expressions on their faces. The partying had stopped as the events began to unfold. "She cared about you enough to say she liked you and you had to say no in the meanest way you could think of! You don't care bout her at all do ya!"

"I do care about her."

"No you don't! You just broke her heart! That's something that you can't just pop back into place!"

"I do care about her a lot Applejack, I really like her! It's just that right now I'm going through hell and I don't want any of you to have to deal with it!"

"Well, I hope that you can know that when you get out of your problems you won't have her as a friend! Or for that matter me!"

Nails looked away from Applejack.

"Look at me right now!"

Nails ignored her but began to speak, "Two roads, an easy one, and the right one." he sat there for a few moments as an angry Applejack reared back to kick him again. This time he stopped it.

"Applejack, you can stop now."

"Why? You gonna fight back?"

"No." said Nails as he got up, "I'm going to go tell Rainbow Dash how I really feel."

Applejack watched as Nails picked up his saddlebags and left the shop leaving everypony shocked.

"What just happened?" asked Twilight.

"Ta be honest Twilight, I don't really know." was all Applejack could say.

Rainbow Dash sat on a hill overlooking Ponyville. She was crying. A pony that she thought cared about her had just told her to leave him alone. She couldn't stop the tears as they kept falling. It had been only a few minutes ago when she had asked Nails if he cared about her and now she knew he hated her. She was about to walk to Twilight's where she was staying when she heard a voice behind her.

"Rainbow?"

She turned around to see Nails standing there.

"I'm sorry, you want me to leave you alone! I'll be going now!"

"Wait!"

Rainbow Dash turned around. "Why! So you can make me feel worse? So you can think of another way to say no? Why should I listen to you? Or care about you for that matter!"

"Because I really do care about you."

"Prove it! You told me to stay away from you! How can you stand there and tell me you care about me?"

Nails didn't say anything. Instead, his claw reached into his saddlebags and pulled something out. He looked at it and then tossed it to Rainbow Dash. It was a heart shaped locket.

"I made that today. It took me all of the twelve hours and all of my skill to do it just right. I melted a lot of golden coins before I got it just right."

"It's... Beautiful." was all Rainbow Dash could say. Tears began to form in her eyes, these were not if sadness though, but of joy. She looked at the pony that had just done this for her.

"I'm so sorry Nails, I guess that I got carried away."

"No you didn't, I did. I shouldn't have talked to you that way. I should have been nicer about it. But, if you're willing to forgive me, then I'm willing to be true with you. I really do care about you Rainbow, that's why I said no originally, now I realize that even though that was the easy path, it wasn't the right one."

Rainbow Dash looked at Nails; the dark pink eyes met his. Rainbow Dash had never noticed his blue eyes before. She began to snivel before walking up to him and hugging him. He returned the embrace.

"I'm so sorry Rainbow. Please forgive me."

"I forgive you Nails." said Rainbow Dash as she tightened the embrace.

"Hey! We need to have another party now! It can be a Rainbow Dash and Nails party!" came a voice from nearby. The two ponies stopped hugging and turned their attention towards the bush where they had heard the voice. "We could combine it with the hero party we're having for Nails! It can be a double party!"

"Pinkie Pie! You blew our cover!"

"Consarnit Pinkie Pie! Don't you know the purpose of hiding! It's so ya don't get found!"

"I must say Pinkie Pie, that was a little bad even for you!"

"Rainbow Dash! I'm so sorry if we're interrupting anything! Will you please forgive us?"

Rainbow Dash and Nails looked at each other and started to laugh. Then they began to hug each other again. They would have stayed there forever had Pinkie Pie not gotten right in between them. They laughed at this.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random."

The seven ponies returned to their party and continued throughout the night without any more problems. Nails stayed close to Rainbow Dash all night and the two talked about various things. Nails still refused to explain what he meant when he told them that he had said no because he cared about Rainbow, but this was ignored. As the night began to come to an end the seven ponies left to go to their houses but not before saying good-bye to Nails and Rainbow Dash who both set out to Nails's home. Rainbow Dash was still staying with Twilight but she just wanted to say good-night to Nails before she went. When they got there Nails invited her in. Rainbow Dash had never been inside Nails's home and she wished that she had tried to go in earlier. The inside was beautiful, especially the handmade furniture. She was looking at the table when a letter caught her eye. Curious, she went over to it and began to read it.

"Nails!"

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" said Rainbow Dash as she held up the letter.

"Oh, that"

"This is really big news."

"Ya, it is, I guess it just, um slipped my mind. Ya."

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited that Iron Foot is going to die?" Rainbow Dash paused; those were words she never thought would come out of her mouth.

"Ya, I am, it's just that, well, I don't know. I guess you're right, I should be excited."

"I'm going to go tell Twilight right now! She will be so excited!" once again, never thought that Twilight would be excited by death.

"Ok, Good night Rainbow."

"Good night Nails!"

With that Rainbow Dash walked out of the house and started towards the library with a skip in her step. Nails closed the door behind her but didn't move after it was shut. His claw formed a fist as he looked at the ground and he let himself slide until he was sitting on the ground.

"Strike three."

Author Notes.

Well well well, long time no see. I have quite a bit to talk about in these author notes so let's get started.

1. This story still has one more chapter. A much shorter epilogue. What's in it? Find out when you read it!

2. Originally the locket didn't exist and the only thing that happened was conversation between Nails and Rainbow Dash. I decided that this was too boring so I threw the locket in to shake things up.

3. In regard to the most recent episode, The Last Roundup, It is definitely my favorite episode so far. The fact that they actually say Derpy and give her a voice makes the episode. And so does demon Pinkie Pie. Plus the torture scene and the carriage chase.

4. When it says that Pinkie Pie got in between them, in my mind I had it look like when she starts at the bottom of the screen in "Sweet and Elite" and rises up before starting the party.

5. "Strike three" was the first thing I ever wrote in this chapter. Since I had planned on it being like this for a while and had decided to make "Strike three" the last phrase in the story (Not including Epilogue) I did before I forgot.

6. When I post the finale in The Price of Harmony trilogy it will start with a prologue and a single chapter to get things started.

7. Because it may not be easily found when searched for I will tell you now that the last story will be rated M for heavy language, blood and gore, and extreme violence. How extreme? Pretty extreme, enough said. But it will not be a blood bath story. It will still be a very well written story and include important key elements. Just a little preview, you finally get to learn what is in that book that Nails carries around.

8. I already had the ending of this series in my mind before I published the first story. I feel like if I know exactly where I want to go, I just have to draw the map to get there.


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue

One Week Later.

Iron Foot made his way through the forest towards the cliff. Today was the scheduled day for his execution. He knew that they just planned to toss him off the cliff.

"How unoriginal," he said as the guards marched him towards the spot where they would toss him. "Throwing a pony off a cliff. Not smart enough to build yourself a set of gallows?" The guard to his left kicked him out of anger. They were headed to Snake Fang Cliff; it was named for the extremely sharp rocks that lined the entirety of the ground at the bottom. They were hoping one of these rocks would impale him.

They reached the edge of the cliff and he was set next to the executioner. The prosecutor came forward and read the charges. "Commander Iron Foot of Forshan, you have been sentenced to death by being tossed off of the Snake Fang Cliffs and possible impalement. The charges are for organizing acts of terror within the kingdom of Equestria, committing war crimes, oppression of a people of the pony race, and bribing Equestrian soldiers. How do you plead?"

"Guilty." spoke Iron Foot blatantly.

"Do you have any final words to say before the execution?"

"My war has just begun." with that Iron Foot jumped off of the cliff on his own. All four ponies stuck their heads over the cliff and gasped at what they saw. A portal was closing.

Iron Foot had escaped.


End file.
